A pro-life group in Michigan has submitted a petition to the Republican controlled legislature that would put restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance plans.
The new law would require women to purchase an additional rider to any insurance plan if they want to cover an abortion.
The “Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act” could be passed by majority vote in the state legislature and does not require the signature of the governor. Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican who says he’s pro-life, said he is opposed to this particular measure.
The group had to obtain 58,088 valid signatures from state citizens to require action by lawmakers. The Detroit Free Press reported the group obtained at least 299,000 valid signatures.
If the legislature does not take action within 40 days of returning from a break, the matter will go to a vote on the November 2014 ballot.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from pro-abortionists to stay Texas’ new abortion law pending an appeal.
The justices ruled 5-4 to leave in effect provisions banning abortions after 20 weeks and requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
The four liberal justices who wanted to stop the law that Texas officials say is aimed to protect the health of women seeking abortions said they expect the law to return to the Court once a final ruling is issued by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
A judge had blocked the law days before it was to take effect but was overruled by a three-judge appellate panel. Judge Priscilla Owen said that Texas law would not end abortion; only force women to drive a greater distance to obtain one, and that did not pose an “undue burden” on the women.
“This is good news both for the unborn and for the women of Texas, who are now better protected from shoddy abortion providers operating in dangerous conditions,” Texas Governor Rick Perry told reporters. “As always, Texas will continue doing everything we can to protect the culture of life in our state.”
Newly elected New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says that he is going to target pro-life crisis pregnancy centers saying they are “sham” centers because they do not kill babies via abortion.
De Blasio also promised to partner with Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to expand services and increase the number of abortions taking place in New York City.
He even said that he would offer city sponsored space for abortionists to open clinics.
De Blasio also said he would continue to appeal a court order striking down a law aimed at driving any pregnancy care center out of the city. He said if the appeal fails, he will create new laws aimed at preventing any center that does not provide abortions as being a legitimate health care provider.
He also said all doctors in the city will be forced to perform abortions as part of their training and will not be allowed to object on religious grounds.
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a case Monday, meaning a lower court’s ruling to invalidate an Oklahoma state law restricting abortion drugs will stand.
The Oklahoma law would have restricted the way abortion inducing drugs like RU-486 could be used in the state. Pro-abortion groups sued claiming the law violated previous court ruling regarding how abortion drugs could be dispensed.
The bill would have prevented doctors from using mifepristone, which induces abortions up to the seventh week of pregnancy.
In a related action, pro-abortionists from Texas have filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to block enforcement of Texas abortion law. The appeal goes before Justice Antonin Scalia for consideration.
A federal appeals court reinstated most of the restrictions in Texas’ new abortion law just three days after a judge ruled they were unconstitutional.
The judges of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals while the lawsuit moves through the court system. The restrictions go into place Friday.
The panel left in place the decision by District Judge Lee Yeakel preventing the state from enforcing the USDA’s protocol for abortion inducing drugs when the woman is between 50 and 63 days into her pregnancy.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made an emergency appeal of Judge Yeakel’s ruling arguing the law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges is constitutional use of the Legislature’s authority. The court’s order is temporary pending a full hearing, which will likely happen in January 2014.
The law also bans abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and starting October 2014 requires doctors to perform all abortions at surgical centers.
A federal judge struck down key parts of a law in Texas aimed at improving health conditions for women seeking to end their child’s life via abortion.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel blocked the part of the law that requires doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital because it “places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus and is thus an undue burden to her.”
The judge also blocked a part of the law that deals with medication-induced abortions but allowed restrictions to remain. The provisions include requiring the drugs to be used in strict compliance with FDA requirements and making follow up visits mandatory.
Pro-life groups said that the blockage of the law puts women’s lives in danger.
“Blocking this law only puts vulnerable women in greater danger. We are very disturbed that a judge would partially block a law that is grounded in the latest science and in common sense,” Anna Higgins of the Family Research Council told CNN.
The Office of Personnel Management told government employees Monday that members of Congress and their staffs can buy health care plans that pay for abortions even though the premiums are paid largely by taxpayer money.
The action appears to violate federal law prohibiting taxpayer funded abortion. Continue reading →
Virginia Democratic candidate for governor was caught on video telling a woman that if he is elected he will take action to get around regulations that put requirements on abortion clinics.
Terry McAuliffe said he will use executive actions to get around the regulations passed by Virginia legislators requiring abortion clinics to meet health standards placed on every other surgical center in the state. Continue reading →
Anti-life activists are creating a video game where the goal is for a woman to kill her baby via abortion through the crowd-funding site “Indiegogo”.
The game is titled “Choice: Texas, A Very Serious Game” and is in the developmental stages by a professor at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and an activist poet living in Austin, Texas. Continue reading →
A Democratic California Assemblywoman’s bill would allow nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants to kill babies via abortion if signed by California’s Democratic governor Jerry Brown. Continue reading →
